2. A new (old) Spooks series 8 picture has surfaced on the net and I've added it to the Spooks promo gallery. Click the 'original image' button in the bottom right corner to see the full size.

3. Another new (old) photo has surfaced thanks to @ArmitageGlobal on twitter. Click here to see the tweet showing photos from the 1998 Hamlet theatre programme. The picture of Richard seated is a new one for me. The other image is already in the RA Miscellaneous gallery and I've added the new photo today.

4. A donation of £226.83 plus gift aid has been made today to Action for Children, one of the eight charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com, as a result of orders made via Amazon UK and Amazon DE from September 2015 to October 2015. Thank you so much for continuing to use the Amazon links on my home page to order your shopping!

Audible have posted the video interview with Richard that was mentioned in the news 27th September below, in which Richard answers questions posed by fans on Twitter about recording an audiobook. Click here to watch the video.

The recording of David Copperfield is now available to pre-order. According to Audible UK, it will be available on 9th February 2016. It is also available via Audible on Amazon. If you order the audiobook using my Amazon links on the home page, you will earn commission that I will pay to one of Richard's nominated charities.

20th December

Richard sent two Christmas messages on twitter yesterday. My twitter feed on the home page is only showing part of his message, so click here to see the full text and click the picture to read it. Here is his first tweet with the four pictures, which include a picture of Chop from Urban and the Shed Crew, a picture from the set of Berlin Station and Raymond De Merville from Pilgrimage.

19th December

1. The British newspaper, The Mirror, posted a new interview yesterday - warning this is not journalism of the highest quality! There is no indication how recent this interview is, or if all of the quotes are from a single interview.

2. I have added 8 new photos to the Hannibal gallery courtesy of the farfarawaysite.com. To see them in full size, click on a picture then click on 'original image' in the bottom right corner.

14th December

Richard has been nominated for a Critics Choice Award in the category of 'Best Guest Actor/Actress in a Drama Series' for his role as Francis Dolarhyde on Hannibal, as announced here on Deadline. Congratulations Richard!

13th December

1. Audible have released a FREE audiobook for Audible members narrated by Richard Armitage, which you can download now. The Chimes by Charles Dickens is available here on Audible UK (this link should open the US or Australian version depending on your location). This will be the audiobook that Richard recorded in Berlin recently - click here for tweet.

2. The previous upload of photos to the Urban Candids gallery contained several from Guylty, some of which were duplicates (I did not realise, sorry). I have sorted this out today and also added some new photos showing Richard speaking inside the Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds. Thank you again to Guylty for sharing and please do not remove the watermark if reposting. Click 'original picture' in the bottom corner to see the full size.

29th November

1. A donation of £185.35 plus gift aid has been made today to Shelter one of the eight charities Richard has chosen on JustGiving.com, as a result of orders made via Amazon US during April 2015 and from June 2015 to August 2015. I am very grateful to all of you who continue to use the Amazon links on my home page to order your shopping, thank you!

I have also finally received the May 2015 payment from Amazon US ($85.25) and as promised in the news 3rd May, this has been paid today to UNICEF's appeal for Nepal. Details of both of these donations are here.

2. The novelist Olen Steinhauer who is one of the writers for Berlin Station has confirmed that the name of Richard's character is Daniel Miller, which has been reported in some press, not Daniel Meyer as the character was originally thought to be called. This decision was made in the last few days according to his tweet to me on 24 Nov.

23rd November

Getty Images have posted pictures of Richard filming Berlin Station today on the streets of Berlin. Click here.

21st November

Thank you to all those on twitter who gave me permission to post their photographs from the LIFF screenings of Urban and the Shed Crew. These photos are now in the Urban Candids gallery.

Update 23 Nov: a further 62 photos have been added to the gallery with many thanks to Guylty for sharing her talent with us all. Please do not remove the watermark if reposting. The first of 62 starts here. Click 'original picture' in the bottom corner to see the full size. Enjoy!

11th November

The full Q&A session from last Friday's premiere of Urban and the Shed Crew is now on YouTube courtesy of the venue organiser's Chapel FM. Enjoy!

8th November

Richard and cast and crew of Urban and the Shed Crew attended the 12pm screening of the film at the Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds today. Many audience members were there to greet Richard and as a result a ton of photographs have been posted on twitter and other social media today. I am gathering permissions to post the images in a gallery on this site, but a quick look at https://twitter.com/favorites aka my 'likes' will show you all the pictures and video feeds I 'liked' today and yesterday. Check out my home page for Richard's twitter feed or click here to open in a new window to see his recent tweets.

Watch this space for a compliation of photos taken at the two Urban events this weekend.

7th November

Richard Armitage, Candida Brady and Bernard Hare attended the evening performance of Urban and the Shed Crew at the Chapel FM building in Leeds this evening. Dorothea of @RCAUniverse recorded Richard's speech prior to the screening and posted via twitter - I have uploaded the clip on to YouTube as Periscope videos expire after 24 hours. This second clip shows Richard arriving at the event. Many thanks Dorothea for sharing these videos with us all.

Thanks also to Gill and Jessie for posting pictures of Richard outside the venue this evening and sharing on twitter. Here are the tweets with the pictures. Click on the photos in the tweets to enlarge.

Richard will attend tomorrow's premiere of Urban and the Shed Crew at 7.30pm in Leeds and again at the 12pm showing on Sunday. The director Candida Brady and Bernard Hare will also attend and earlier this evening they were both on the BBC's local news programme Look North. I have uploaded the clip on to youtube.

I will not be in Leeds but plenty of fans have tweeted that they'll be there, so hopefully there will be lots of news and photos to upload on to this site tomorrow.

3rd November

A donation of £348.87 plus gift aid has been made today to Action for Children, one of the eight charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com, as a result of orders made via Amazon UK and Amazon DE from June 2015 to August 2015. Thank you so much for continuing to use the Amazon links on my home page to order your shopping!

1st November

1. The Crucible will be shown on a cinema screen at The Barbican in London on 29 December at 3pm. For tickets and further information click here.

2. North Leeds Life have published an article about the impending premiere of Urban and the Shed Crew at the Leeds International Film Festival. The article also references the Just Giving pages that Richard Armitage and Bernard Hare have set up to support charities relevant to the themes of the film. You will find links to all of Richard's Just Giving pages on the home page of this site.

1. Here is a high resolution scan of the interview with Richard in the December 2015 issue of Empire magazine. Click below to enlarge.

2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel by A J Hartley and David Hewson, narrated by Richard Armitage, is currently available to download via Audible, but it will be available to buy on CD on 8th December from Amazon UK, Amazon DE or Amazon US. Follow the links to order and earn a referral fee at no cost to yourself, which I will pay to charity. Thanks to Monika for this information.

3. The Scunthorpe Telegraph has an article about Fraser Kelly, star of Urban and the Shed Crew, which include a couple of mentions of Richard and reference to the film's premiere at the Leeds International Film Festival. This red carpet interview might have been the one that is referred to by Fraser's mum.

27th October

1. Empire's December 2015 issue has a full page interview with Richard, but although half a photo has appeared online, the issue is not yet available in shops or via Empire online. The December issue has Jared Leto on the cover. I will post a scan of the interview here when I get a copy.

2. There are now two ways to order from Amazon on this site: shop for any item (not just Richard Armitage related) and earn money for charity at no cost to yourself by clicking any of the Amazon logos on the home page and ordering from Amazon as normal. Alternatively, visit the new Amazon Shopping page and scroll through RA dvds and audiobooks on the relevant store (UK, US or DE). Click on a product to order it.

The RichardArmitageNet Amazon store links have been removed from my home page as this feature is no longer available from Amazon.

3. New poll on the website about The Hobbit Extended Edition DVD - please vote in the menu on the left-hand side. Previous results are here.

11th October

1. Richard tweeted overnight to announce that some of the profits from Urban and the Shed Crew will go to Action for Children, a charity that aims to help young and vulnerable children in the UK. Click on the link in the tweet to go to his Just Giving page for more information. Here is a link to the 8 charities that Richard supports via Just Giving.

2. The organisers of the Leeds Film Festival have tweeted this morning to confirm that they are trying to organise another screening for Urban and the Shed Crew on 7th November, as the two screenings on that date have already sold out. No other dates have been announced yet.

10th October

The independent film Urban and the Shed Crew starring Richard Armitage, Anna Friel and Fraser Kelly will premiere at the 29th Leeds International Film Festival on Saturday 7 November and Richard tweeted that he will be there. Hopefully the film will get a distributor soon and be shown around the country and internationally.

5th October

Richard has recorded voiceover for a new British advert for Hovis bread. Watch it here on YouTube.

27th September

Richard has now finished recording the audiobook of David Copperfield at the Audible.com studios (according to this tweet). We still do not know if the audiobook will be unabridged unfortunately.

On 25th September, CDM Studios tweeted a picture of Richard being interviewed in the studios where he has recorded the audiobook. Yesterday, the same twitter account posted a short video clip of Richard receiving the Audible's 2014 Audiobook of the Year trophy for Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel. Co-author David Hewson blogged about this award in December last year.

19th September

1. In early August, US film magazine Fangoria issue #383 was guest edited by Bryan Fuller and it included a 3 page interview with Richard Armitage by William Bibbiani. Scans of the article have been kindly sent to this site from @apple_fia on twitter. Thanks also to @CrystalChandlyr for the first 5 pages below, which include an interview with director Neil Marshall. Click the images to enlarge.

2. Sarah Dunn has released another photo from her 2014 Hobbit photoshoot: twitter and facebook.

11th September

The announcement about Berlin Station was made today (see news 8th September below) and Richard has been named as the lead! Richard will play Daniel Meyer, a CIA case officer who becomes an undercover agent in Berlin, tasked with uncovering the source of a leak who has supplied information to a whistleblower. The 10 part series, due to be released in autumn 2016, also stars Michelle Forbes, Rhys Ifans and Richard Jenkins.

From Variety: “We are very happy to have found our ‘Daniel’ to join this incredible ensemble cast,” said Mark S. Greenberg, president and CEO of EPIX. “Richard is a singular talent who has the presence and attitude to bring this character and story to life”...“Both Richard and Michelle are enormously talented actors who exhibit an on-screen intensity and passion that viewers respond to because of their intellect and ability to let transformation overcome their characters,” added Amy Powell, president of Paramount TV.

10th September

We assumed correctly - Richard will be recording a narration of David Copperfield soon at the Audible.com studios. See their tweet about asking questions for Richard. There is no further information yet about a release date or whether the audiobook will be abridged.

8th September

1. Richard has tweeted quotes from Dickens' David Copperfield today and tagged Audible.com in his tweets, so I think it's safe to assume his reading the novel for another audiobook for us all to enjoy! Tweet 1, tweet 2 and tweet 3.

2. This tweet from 1st September shows Richard in a soundproof studio recording audio for the forthcoming Hannibal season 3 DVD.

3. Richard has recently followed producers, director, original novelist, writers and production companies involved in a project called Berlin Station, a ten part contemporary spy series for television which begins filming this autumn. Although Richard's name has not yet been officially mentioned in connection with this series, his twitter activity has fuelled rumours of his involvement, so watch this space. More details from the Hollywood Reporter.

29th August

Candida Brady has been tweeting daily with pictures from Urban and the Shed Crew and also she posted a link to the official trailer on Thursday 27th August. Watch on YouTube or watch below:

Candida Brady, director of Urban and the Shed Crew has released a new picture of Richard as Chop. No news yet on the release date of this film, which is being submitted to film festivals the last I heard. I will put this picture in the Urban gallery soon.

21st August

Richard opened a Just Giving page for the Cybersmile Foundation yesterday and suggested via twitter that donations could be made in multiples of 4 for his birthday! See tweet 1 and tweet 2. He also posted a selfie on Weibo yesterday evening with a caption that has been translated by @RCArmitager_CN. Many thanks to them. Click here for a copy of my tweet with the details.

There are 6 other Just Giving pages nominated by Richard in the past, details of which are on the home page of this site, and the birthday page which has now closed for new comments. Thank you so much for all the fantastic messages!

20th August

Photographer Sarah Dunn has shared another behind the scenes photo from her visit to the set of Sleepwalker in October 2014. Click here to see the tweet she posted today and the picture. The previous photo Sarah posted is here in the Sleepwalker gallery.

2. Thank you to Violet for listing dates to see The Crucible at cinemas in the UK - click here.

3. Here is Inquisitr's review of episode 11, which I haven't read but I gather it is another glowing review of Richard's performance. I cannot post other reviews as I'm not reading them until episode 11 airs on UK television tomorrow evening, so click here for a google search of episode 11 reviews.

4. Joshua Horowitz has posted another of his popular happy/sad/confused picture montages featuring Richard, Hugh Dancy and Bryan Fuller on Instagram. These pictures were taken at San Diego ComicCon on 11 July. Richard has appeared in this photo series before during Hobbit promotion in December 2013 - click here and scroll down to 16 December to see the picture montage.

I have also received the May 2015 payments from Amazon UK and Amazon DE, and as promised in the news 3rd May, these amounts were paid today to UNICEF's appeal for Nepal. When I receive the Amazon US May payment I will pay this to UNICEF too. Details of the donation are here.

Thank you so much for continuing to use the Amazon links on my home page to make your purchases. Referral fees are earned for free for every item you buy. Details here.

3. Martha De Laurentiis tweeted another picture of Richard in the red dragon costume, this time in front of a green screen. This scene features in episode 10 which airs on Sky Living tonight at 10pm. See news 9th August below for the other picture of Richard in the costume, tweeted by Bryan Fuller.

10th August

The Coventry Telegraph has published an article about 'former Coventry student' Richard Armitage and the impact on twitter following his appearance on Hannibal episode 10. The episode has not been shown in the UK yet - it is broadcast in Canada on Fridays, in the US on Saturdays and in the UK on Wednesdays.

9th August

1. Hannibal episode 10 aired in the US last night so there are now even more photos in the Hannibal gallery from 3 sources: the farfarawaysite.com, producer Loretta Ramos (who tweeted two photos of Richard, Rutina Wesley and the tiger) and Bryan Fuller who tweeted a fantastic picture of Richard in costume as the Red Dragon. Spoilers of course! Here is a link to Bryan Fuller's tweet with 'that' photo.

2. Thank you to DJ Kwes for sharing this story of his experience as an extra on Hannibal and meeting Richard who put him at ease before a scene they shared together. DJ Kwes played the museum receptionist.

3. More glowing reviews for episode 10 '...And the Woman Clothed in Sun':

Digital Spy "Both Richard Armitage and Rutina Wesley did beautifulwork in that zoo scene...The actors and writers have done a fairly remarkable job of making us care about this romance in the space of just two episodes"

Slant Magazine "Francis uses his profound alienation from society as a conduit for empathy with Reba's blindness, and, in turn, the tiger is a conduit for Francis's visions of his own strength and for Reba's desire to find within that strength a reservoir of the very real vulnerability she detects in his pleading, halting speech."

4. Janice Poon, food stylist for Hannibal, tweeted that Richard is very method when it comes to eating paintings: link to tweet.

8th August

1. As mentioned in yesterday's news I have created a birthday page for you to leave messages for Richard as I have done since 2009. Thank you for encouraging me to continue this - I really wasn't sure if this was still wanted but you have given me some great feedback. Here is the page with a summary as always of what Richard has been upto these past 12 months. The page will close for comments at 9pm UK time on Friday 21st August. Thank you for continuing to visit this site, it is much appreciated.

3. Richard's latest tweet contains a message to Susannah Cahalan and her family. Susannah wrote the novel that Richard's latest project was based on, Brain on Fire. My twitter feed on the home page of this site only shows the photo of Susannah, her father Tom Cahalan and Richard who played Tom in the film, however on the twitter web page you can see Richard's message in full - click the text to read it.

7th August

1. Thank you for voting in the poll about a birthday page for Richard. Results are here. Your comments and votes have persuaded me that you would like to see this continue, so I'm working on the page now. Thanks again.

A new poll has opened on the left-hand side asking about whether you watch or read spoilers for Hannibal. Thanks for voting!

2. The Hannibal Post Mortem for episode 10 has been posted on YouTube. This is the best of these episodes so far in terms of great clips of the episode (spoilers obviously) and some nice insights from Rutina Wesley and Richard Armitage.

3. If you enjoy reading spoilers for Hannibalthis is the review for you. Plenty of detail about episode 10 '...And the Woman Clothed in Sun' and lots of pictures.

5. Soundbites of Richard's telephone interview for Ma Vie En L'Air have been posted on SoundCloud with many thanks to the interviewer (@GeekInc18 on twitter). Scroll down to see previous soundbites when Richard has been interviewed about The Hobbit. Here are the three parts of the final transcribed interview: part 1, part 2 and part 3.

5th August

1. Far Away Entertainment have announced that extended versions of the Hobbit trilogy will be shown in US cinemas, starting on Monday 5th October 2015. Collider have also added that there will be a special introduction from Peter Jackson.

2. A few days ago, Collider nominated Richard as TV performer of the week for his performance as Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal. Read more here.

3. The trailer for Hannibal episode 10, which features lots of Richard as Francis Dolarhyde, has appeared on Canadian TV - watch it here.

1. Here is the trailer for Hannibal episode 9 '...And the Woman Clothed with the Sun'. If this doesn't work in your location, try this.

2. The Post Mortem clip for episode 9 is now on youtube. Rutina Wesley eloquently explains her take on the character of Reba McClane, and Reba's relationship with Francis Dolarhyde.

3. This review from flickeringmyth is worth a mention for its outstanding praise of Richard's performance. There are many reviews of episode 8 online and I don't recall reading any negative reviews at all, in fact many comment that this episode is a highlight of the series so far. Richard's performance as Francis Dolarhyde has been universally praised.

"I really had my doubts whether he was the man to play Francis Dolarhyde in this production. The first five minutes of The Great Red Dragon convinced me not only to put aside my doubts but has completely reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the series. Armitage is every bit that impressive in the role."

4. The Philippine Star's interview with Richard is here. Richard also mentions Pilgrimage and Brain on Fire, which he is filming at the moment in Vancouver:

“At the moment, I’m playing a very loving and kind person who is fighting very hard to save his daughter’s life, somebody who is a real family man and in a way, it’s a very nice antidote to Francis Dolarhyde who was a very destructive character.”

5. A brand new video interview with Richard courtesy of the Hannibal production team has been posted on youtube.

2. Here is the Straits Times telephone interview with Richard about Hannibal. After several interviews in the past few days there isn't really anything new in this one, but they have published a photograph taken by Sarah Dunn for last year's Hobbit promotion that hasn't been seen before in such high resolution. Click the arrow on the picture of Francis Dolarhyde to see Sarah's photo of Richard. Sarah published a larger version of the photograph on her Facebook page last November.

26th July

1. Part two of Ma Vie En L'Air's interview has been published here. Part one was posted in yesterday's news and part three will appear on Monday.

1. Despite being interviewed several times as you will see from yesterday's and today's news, Richard still manages to give slightly different answers to similar questions so all of the interviews are worth a look. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Richard explains some of the different types of research he followed to find the character of Francis Dolarhyde.

"When we were working on that I would listen to Mich Levi, who wrote the score to Under the Skin. It was ironically useful and very topical at the time because he’d just been nominated for an Oscar. I was also listening to a young girl who was in speech therapy for a cleft palate. I studied a lot of online of speech therapy for speech disabilities."

He also comments on the famous tiger scene filmed with Rutina Wesley, saying that Francis...

"...didn't self-consciously know he was doing a heroic thing, he just understood that it would mean something to her and he wanted to rock her world. But it’s actually not for personal gain, it’s to move her."

2. Michael Calia on behalf of The Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy section has written one of the best interviews I believe. There is lots of interesting detail in this interview, including whether he would play such a character again and also how he cultivated the character's speech impediment:

"I also worked with this little piece of plastic on the roof of my mouth, which enabled me to speak quickly but at the same time not avoid the little tics that happen in cases of a cleft palate, so that was there all the way through."

3. The Wrap have provided an extended clip from the start of episode 8 of Hannibal. I can't play this video in the UK so it could be blocked in your country. As soon as the footage appears elsewhere online I will update this news item.

4. Inquisitr have summarised the Hollywood Reporter's article (#1 above), but I'm mentioning it here for their acknowledgement of the Armitage Army: "they all recognize his versatility and ability to take on very intricate characters." Yes we do.

5. SpinOffOnline asks similar questions and there are similar answers that we have read in other interviews. However the last answer is the most interesting as Richard talks about the amount of input he had into the portrayal of the character:

"Every idea that I’ve had, and every thought I’ve had about the character, has been embraced by the writers, the costume designers, the set designers, the stunt coordinator and the directors. When you are given that opportunity, your brain starts to work in much more detail."

6. Ma Vie En L'Air have interviewed Richard about Hannibal, and have published the conversation as it took place without any editing. This is a fantastic interview and it is only the first of three parts. Part two will be posted on Sunday (tomorrow) at 10am GMT or 6am US EDT. Part three will be posted within the following 24 hours.

Richard is asked about Guy of Gisborne in comparison with Francis Dolarhyde, about the nature vs nurture argument, whether he was physically comfortable with the amount of nudity and whether he was able to shake off the character after each shooting day. Well worth a read!

24th July

1. Bryan Fuller shows us around Francis Dolarhyde's attic and Hannibal Lecter's cell in this video from TV Guide. Thanks to @sahraobsessed on twitter.

2. An interview with Richard in the Jakarta Globe reveals that Richard actively sought character driven independent films after The Hobbit and he describes his gruesome and revealing first day on set.

3. Bryan Fuller's interview on Buzzfeed has some spoilers but lots of fascinating information about season 3 and later in the article, about Richard's part in the latter half of the season. The last answer is really interesting about the way Richard contorted his body: "we wanted it to feel like An American Werewolf in London".

4. In this interview with Zap2it, Richard explains again that he did not watch previous incarnations of the character by other actors, but also says that he deliberately didn't want to see another Reba McClane either: "because I, as the character, was about to meet my Reba McClane. I didn’t want to be informed by other manifestations of that, so I left it alone.”

5. This two minute short clip shows Richard and Guillermo Navarro on Hannibal's Post Mortem show, a behind the scenes look at every episode. I'm not sure if more of this interview will be posted on NBC's Hannibal site or elsewhere so if anyone can give me more information on this please email me (Ali) at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.

7. In another interview out today, Richard talks to The Wrap about Hannibal, binge watching the series so far, playing a physically and emotionally isolated character and how Richard found a way to play the physicality of the character.

8. I won't post links to all the reviews of Hannibal episode 8, as there will be many, but this one from Business Insider Australia has to get a mention because it is one of the first reviews, it is glowing and there is this comment:

"a big part of what makes this new arc so immediately compelling is the addition of actor Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde. Armitage is a force of nature, terribly frightening in the role without ever saying a word (and completely unrecognizable from his most famous role, Thorin Oakenshield from “The Hobbit” films)."

10. I am debating whether to set up another birthday page for Richard this year, something I have done every year since 2009. Last year's is here. Now that he is on twitter, I expect lots of people will tweet Richard directly on his birthday, and although I appreciate not everyone has a twitter account I am wondering whether a birthday page on this site is still appropriate and worthwhile. Social media has changed the way that people interact online and I'm aware that this site is an archive of information rather than a way for fans to communicate, so perhaps a birthday page is no longer relevant. I would be grateful if you would vote in the poll on the left and also I would welcome comments on the home page to let me know your opinion. (Scroll down to create a new comment). Thank you very much!

TV Insider have published an interview with Richard about playing Francis Dolarhyde, and there's a very interesting answer about what would have been a dealbreaker in terms of playing a character that commits such horrific crimes. The picture they have posted appears with others from episode 8 and 9 in the Hannibal gallery on this site.

22nd July

1. TV & Satellite week have an interview with Richard in their 25-31 July issue out this week to promote Richard's first appearance in Hannibal. Episode 8 of series 3 will be shown on Weds 29 July 10pm on Sky Living HD. Click the image below to enlarge. Thanks to @guille171170 and @RArmitageBrazil for letting me know so I could go out and buy it!

2. Richard also appears in two more UK magazines today, What's On TV magazine and TV Guide magazine. Many thanks to Jen for the scans. Click to enlarge.

3. Strike Back Origins, which was the first series of Strike Back first shown in 2010 in the UK and starring Richard, is currently showing on demand on Cinemax in the US. Thanks to @TheRAFanPage on twitter.

1. A donation of £270.82 plus gift aid has been made today to Barnardo's one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Thank you so much for continuing to use the Amazon links on my home page to make your purchases. Referral fees are earned for free for every item you buy. Details here.

2. A new promo video of Hannibal 'The Great Red Dragon' episode has been posted on Vimeo. Also here is the preview for next week's episode featuring Richard, which was shown at the end of episode 7 on Saturday night in the US. Both videos have slightly different footage from the original preview aired at Comic-Con (see news 12 July below). Spoilers!

6. William Bibbiani's interview with Richard for CraveOnline took place after the Hannibal panel in San Diego, next to the restaurant for the book signing that took place the next day. This is an excellent interview giving plenty of insight into how Richard humanised Francis Dolarhyde.

8. Director of Sleepwalker, Elliott Lester, tweeted this picture from the set on 15th July.

9. Actress Jean MacLean-Angus posted a picture of herself on Instagram with her co-stars of Brain on Fire and producer Charlize Theron today: click here.

13th July

1. Richard's latest tweet confirms that he has just arrived in Vancouver, Canada to begin working on the film Brain on Fire, which is being produced by Charlize Theron and stars Chloë Grace Moretz. No official press announcement has appeared yet stating his involvement, however speculation began a few days ago when Richard started following Charlize and Chloë on twitter. Here is an article by Variety about the shoot.

The film is based on the bestselling memoir by Susannah Cahalan, “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness" and it will be released in 2016. The film is directed by Gerard Barrett. Here is a local Vancouver press site with more information.

1. A round up of the news, interviews and video clips from Richard's appearance yesterday at San Diego Comic-Con, visit the SDCC 2015 page, which I will be updating as more news arrives. I am gathering all the pictures shared on social media - here is the collection so far.

3. Richard has recorded a voiceover to advertise the 2015 Ashes cricket series. Watch it on YouTube.

6th July

1. Candida Brady, the director of Urban and the Shed Crew has posted this fantastic promotional image showing Richard as Chop, Fraser Kelly as Urban and Anna Friel as Greta. She also posted this picture of Richard and writer of the original novel, Bernard Hare, on the set of the film. Candida is hoping to release an official trailer next week. The film is being submitted to film festivals and there could be more news about this at the end of the month.

2. Franchise Herald have posted a synopsis of Richard's first episode in Hannibal (s3e8) called 'The Great Red Dragon'. This episode will be shown in the US on 25 July on NBC and in the UK on 29 July on Sky Living.

3. Here is an extended interview with Richard about playing Francis Dolarhyde. Unfortunately it is not easy to hear Richard under the Russian translation but I was able to make out most of what he was saying so I hope you are able to as well. Thanks to @faboamanto on twitter.

2. Here is Collider's interview with Richard after his win at the Saturn Awards on Friday night. This interview with Bryan Fuller prior to the awards is also worth a watch for his comments about working with Richard (and also for details of American Gods if you're fan of the book, like me!).

1. The rumour mentioned in the news 20th June (#3) below is now confirmed: Richard will attend San Diego ComicCon and appear on the Hannibal panel at 5pm on Saturday 11 July in Ballroom 20. As Deadline reports, a sneak peek of the “Red Dragon” storyline will be followed by a Q&A with cast members Hugh Dancy and Richard Armitage, along with executive producers Bryan Fuller and Martha De Laurentiis. Although Hannibal has been cancelled by NBC, the third season will be shown in full as planned. It is currently being shown on NBC in the US and on Sky Living on Wednesday evenings in the UK. Richard will appear in episodes 8-13.

2. Thanks to @RA_AiRi3232 on twitter for the information that North and South has been released in Japan today with Japanese dubbing.

20th June

1. Den of Geek published a new interview with Richard on 16th June (sorry - I tweeted this but haven't had time to update the site until today). High praise from the author of the article:

"From the moment Thorin first appeared at Bilbo’s door Armitage managed to convey the power, charisma and leadership that set him apart from the rest of the pack, and it was that performance that helped to ground most of The Hobbit’s more over the top moments and keep audiences on side with the task at hand."

Richard is asked about filming the last few scenes of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, so there are lots of spoilers and there is a comment at the end about his role in Captain America. Here Richard talks about finding his feet as the leader of the company of dwarves:

"you can’t really enforce your leadership, it has to be given to you. It’s one of those things I believe that you can’t pull status and it would have weakened his character had he been a dictator, he had to be a kind of humble character that was given his authority by all of the dwarves and that takes time, that takes an actor building up trust with his colleagues and so I just had to take that step by step and earn the respect of my fellow actors, which is tricky, it’s difficult."

2. Today The Connacht Tribune has reported on the end of filming of Pilgrimage (which actually wrapped on 28 May according to the screenwriter) but the article mentions that the film will be promoted at the Toronto Film Festival in September and the American Film Market, an industry event in November.

3. There are strong rumours that the first footage of the Red Dragon from Hannibal episode 8 will be shown at this year's San Diego ComicCon and Richard may well attend, according to this unofficial blog. There is no official confirmation yet and no information on which day the Hannibal panel will take place.

4. In case you haven't read it yet (and I thought I'd already posted this, but again I must apologise), Richard has written a personal account on the Cybersmile Foundation's website, called The Human Condition and Social Media, published 11th June.

9th June

The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively revealed the first images from Pilgrimage including a great shot of Richard in medieval armour. Richard plays Raymond De Merville - see news 22nd May below for the picture tweeted by Richard.

6th June

Update: sorry the trailer has been removed by the filmmakers - not sure why but I hope for some news soon.

1. The teaser trailer for Urban and the Shed Crew has been released on YouTube and it looks fantastic! Richard as we've never seen him before and many recognisable scenes from the book. As soon as there is any information about the film's release I will post it here.

"Richard has gone above and beyond my expectations...I’ve been cutting scenes with him and we were watching a scene, and the editor and myself were both surreptitiously wiping tears out of the corners of our eyes because he is heartbreaking and soul-stirring and mad. He’s this poor, tortured, mad man. Now, after working with Richard, I can’t imagine anybody else doing it. He is so pitch perfect that it’s a coup."

5th June

Confirmation of the name and subject matter of the Irish film project that Richard has mentioned previously have appeared on David Higham (agents) website. We don't yet know if this project has the green light, but Richard is named as the star of the film called Bridget Cleary adapted by Anne-Marie Casey from the book by Angela Bourke. The film will be produced by Wildfire Films and directed by Jim O'Hanlon. For more information about the true story, here is a description on an Irish folk group's website.

Richard first mentioned this project on 7th December at the CCXP event in São Paulo, Brazil. The full interview is on YouTube, but here is the direct quote:

"I'm producing something of my own, which is based on a true story. It's going to be set and filmed in Ireland in the late 1800s, it's a true story"

4th June

1. Yesterday Richard announced on twitter via the Cybersmile Foundation that he has become an ambassador for their organisation. Here is the original announcement. Today, they published an interview with Richard who explained his reasons for supporting the case against digital abuse.

This site is not a blog so I won't discuss my experiences or opinions on this matter and I wish I didn't have anything to relate. I am going to take this opportunity, however, to thank those who have 'got my back'. You know who you are and without you this site would not still be here. Can we get back to the 'fun' now? :)

2. Film Industry Network have also published an article about this announcement. The article has some quotes from Richard that are also on the Cybersmile Foundation's website, but there is plenty of new information, including details of Richard's next projects. It seems the Edith Wharton rumour is more than just a rumour and the Irish period drama (presumably this is the one he is producing) is still in the works.

3. Hannibal season 3 starts in the US and several other countries tonight - but you knew that already, yes? It starts in France on 9th June (my birthday!) and in the UK on 10th June. Richard will appear in episodes 8-13.

29th May

1. Bryan Fuller has been chatting about Hannibal again, this time to Den of Geek. There are spoilers in the article for those who are catching up with the previous two seasons, but he talks extensively about Richard's role as Francis Dolarhyde, including this:

"To be able to allow the audience to meet that man first and see the tragedy of his situation and then be exposed to the horrors of what he is capable of, and then be able to return again to the story of a tortured man whose mind is eating him from the inside out, takes a very particular actor to navigate and garner sympathy from the audience."

2. Urban and the Shed Crew is currently being submitted to film festivals, so we wish all involved the very best of luck for this highly anticipated film. The poster and teaser trailer are currently being worked on. As soon as there is any more news, I will post it here and on twitter and facebook.

3. Sorry to say Hamlet Prince of Denmark: A Novel and Richard's narration were unsuccessful at last night's Audie Awards 2015. It is a fantastic audiobook and well worth owning: Amazon UK RANet store or Amazon US RANet store.

28th May

1. Fangoria have published a long and interesting interview with Richard about playing Francis Dolarhyde. As we have come to expect Richard's analysis of this character is extensive, but it seems this role afforded him the luxury to experiment over six episodes with a detailed physical and mental portrayal of Dolarhyde, and he was given a great deal of freedom to fully explore the character's insanity and not necessarily in order to try to understand him. Francis Dolarhyde appears in the latter half of the third season, which airs on 4th June in the US on NBC and 10th June in the UK on Sky Living.

"I had 10 days to read the novel and completely change my body shape to become like the bodybuilder that Thomas Harris describes. Yeah, I did quite a bit of training, but 10 days is just not enough time. In the book, he’s described as a bodybuilder, so I took his military history, I took my own physique, and I took the psychology of someone that wasn’t happy with themselves and was trying to become better. We put him somewhere in the middle of that.

"There’s a lot of stuff going on here with Francis. It was interesting because I didn’t speak for the first episode. You don’t hear him really utter any words. His speech is slowly evolved throughout the 6 episodes, until the end when he’s eulogizing in very succinct, poetic, gothic ways. It’s been interesting."

2. Music from Urban and the Shed Crew has been released via the artist Som Vinter, who announced Blenheim Films' decision to include some of his music in the film. You can listen to the hauntingly beautiful Tidal Waves via SoundCloud on SomVinter.com. Here is the instrumental track Flatland that will also appear in the film according to their announcement and also Man of the World.

3. The Audie Awards 2015 will be presented tonight at a Gala in the New York Academy of Medicine, New York and you can watch the event on a livestream here. Hamlet Prince of Denmark: A Novel has been nominated in the 'Original Work' category and Richard has been nominated for his narration in the 'Solo Narration-Male' category. Here is the Press Release for further information.

24th May

This interview with Bryan Fuller on Tattle-Crime.com is a MUST read. Bryan gives some fascinating details into how how Richard was cast and his approach to taking on the role in Hannibal.

Bryan says: "There were times that we were sitting in the editing room going over a scene and both the editor and I had to wipe a tear out of the corner of our eyes because you’re rooting for this man to find some peace because he is so tortured, and yes, he is a terrible killer of families but Richard imbues him with great power and also tremendous vulnerability and it’s incredibly appealing."

22nd May

Richard posted an indistinct picture of himself in Pilgrimage costume on Weibo earlier today. He is currently on location in Belgium playing a Norman knight, Raymond De Merville, in the Brendan Muldowney film. Here is the original picture and a version I have edited - now we see you! Click to enlarge.

21st May

For the first time we can now see video and pictures of Richard playing Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal, released today via EOnline. The video content is not yet available in many countries outside the US, but you can watch some gifs on tumblr thanks to Jollytr.

Here is a video showing a preview of season 3 with a short clip of Richard talking. The picture I posted on 10th May (see below) is from this interview.

Two more pictures (click to enlarge):

17th May

Bidding has ended on the doodle Richard drew for the Neurofibromatosis Network, raising an incredible $4350.00! Click here to see the final listing (scroll down). Many congratulations to the winning bidder. Richard tweeted on 8 May to confirm that he will generously match the final bid.

16th May

Empire magazine have published a four part article about the popular BBC spy drama Spooks, featuring the thoughts of the makers of the show and former cast members including Richard. With the release of the film Spooks: The Greater Good in cinemas in the UK, Empire has compiled quotes to commemorate memorable moments from the ten series.

Richard is quoted a few times in parts 2 and 3, most notably about the controversial Lucas North/John Bateman character twist. Thanks to Laura for the link.

13th May

Richard Armitage is to star in Clearance, a film by Finnish director Aku Louhimies, which will film in South Africa in November 2015. More details at Screen Daily.

10th May

1. The first behind the scenes photo of Richard Armitage being interviewed about Hannibal has appeared on one of my favourite photo sites farfarawaysite.com. We don't have any information yet on when this interview will be released. One of the other photos on that link seems to show the kimono worn by Richard's character Francis Dolarhyde aka The Tooth Fairy.

2. Bidding on the doodle Richard drew for Doodle 4 NF, an annual fundraiser for the Neurofibromatosis Network, is at $1465.00 at the time of writing. The bidding ends on 17th May and Richard tweeted yesterday that he will match the final bid!

“I think a lot of people who weren’t necessarily into the genre or Peter’s work probably felt it was too long; in which case I feel like maybe it’s not the right movie for you. The fans loved every single second of it and actually wanted more. When you look at what had to be lost, there was almost too much for three films. There wasn’t quite enough time to tell the whole story.”

4. Film Mayo have posted some photos from the set of Pilgrimage in their latest newsletter. No pictures of the cast.

5. Entertainment Weekly have published a great article about Spooks with some very complimentary comments about Richard and his character Lucas North. Thanks to Jenn.

Richard Armitage (Robin Hood, The Hobbit, Strike Back, Into the Storm) gets his own separate mention because he’s Richard Armitage, who makes everything awesome when he turns up. This is particularly true when he’s playing Adam’s successor, Lucas North, who was possibly Spooks‘ most complicated character and gave the show a shot in the arm when he was hired in series seven. If your show can go from Matthew Macfadyen to Rupert Penry-Jones to Richard Armitage, you are doing something very right.

1. A donation of £241.48 plus gift aid has been made today to The Salvation Army, one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. If you scroll to the bottom of the Donations page you will note that the total you have raised via this site is now over £7,000! Thank you so much.

I have decided, with consultation with some twitter friends, that all the money raised by you this month will go towards UNICEF's appeal for Nepal. The payment made above was earned by referral fees accrued in January and February of this year, so it will be a few months before I get the May 2015 payment, but all that commission will go to UNICEF. If you are happy to support this one-off decision, then please use the Amazon links on my site this month to raise money for UNICEF. After this month all fees will be paid to one of Richard's nominated charities as usual.

2. There is a new poll on the site asking which project you are most looking forward to. Scroll down on the left-hand side to vote. Previous results here.

2nd May

There was a new message on Weibo this morning from Richard, along with two stunning photos of the Irish landscape. Click here to view (you don't have to be a member of Weibo to see the posts). He also posted a tribute to Andrew Lesnie today on Weibo.

30th April

Richard has drawn a doodle for Doodle 4 NF, which is an annual fundraiser for the Neurofibromatosis Network. Here is his doodle (or click the image below). Bidding starts on 7th May and ends on 17th May and will start here on eBay when it goes live on the 7th. Thank you to @Veloce on twitter for the info. The original painting that his doodle is based on is The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea by William Blake. Richard drew another doodle for auction back in 2007 for National Doodle Day, a charity that raises money for the UK charity Epilepsy Action. You can see that doodle in my gallery.

29th April

1. Richard has narrated the third series of Fraud Squad which will be broadcast in the UK tomorrow night at 9pm on ITV. Information on previous series, including clips of Richard's narration, can be found on the Fraud Squad page.

2. I'm sorry to announce that Big Finish no longer hold the licence for selling the BBC Robin Hood audiobooks The Witchfindersand The Siege narrated by Richard. I have received email confirmation about this. The Amazon links on my DVDs page still work but you'll see that the prices are extortionate as it is no longer available, so it seems that the only option could be eBay or perhaps your local library.

28th April

1. Three interviews have been released today in which Richard talks about his roles in The Hobbit, Hannibal, Pilgrimage, Sleepwalker and even Spooks!

"I play a French Norman who has a personal agenda to corrupt this little journey. It's interesting, and most of my character's dialogue is in French, so I've been having to buff up my French."

I understand that Digital Spy's website is not accessible in all countries, so click the image below to read a jpg of the article, then click again to zoom in. I've added a jpg of the DS interview in yesterday's news too.

On Hannibal: "one of the great challenges I had was that it's very difficult to play someone you find so despicable, but if I can get an audience to somehow relate to him and feel something for him, despite what he's done, then I feel like I'll have achieved something I've never done before.”

On returning to the stage: "I am hopefully going to go back on stage, probably directed by Yaël Farber again, sometime in 2016 or 2017. We're developing an idea together and it will be a much more expressionistic, physical approach to theatre, which is the sort of theatre I'm really interested in. I can't say what it will be but we have a play in mind, quite an ancient play."

Interview with Empire Magazine with questions and answers about The Hobbit only, but this is a fun interview:

"One of my favourite moments is when Thorin gives Bilbo the Mithril vest. It's one of those pieces of information in the film that's referenced in Lord Of The Rings, when you see Frodo with it, and I love that it plays across the other films."

2. Character names have now appeared on the PilgrimageIMDB page and Richard's character will be called Raymond De Merville.

3. Richard and other cast members from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings have commented on today's sad news that cinematographer Andrew Lesnie has died. You will see Richard's tweet in the twitter box on my home page or here. Here is Peter Jackson's touching tribute on Facebook.

27th April

Richard was interviewed today to promote The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies extended edition, according to this tweet by a Yahoo Movies journalist. The interview will be posted in a few days and I will link to it here in the news. He was also interviewed by Digital Spy who asked him questions about his role in Hannibal. In the interview Richard comments on his decision to take the role of a serial killer and how the 6 episodes allowed him to fully explore the character.

Click to read:

25th April

Digital Spy have posted 11 spoilers about Hannibal season 3 from showrunner Bryan Fuller, including lots of information about filming with Richard and his character Francis Dolarhyde in the show. The article says: 'Richard Armitage's Dolarhyde will be treated more like a third lead character than a supporting player' and we are told about a shocked reaction from the crew during a specific scene. More details from Bryan Fuller will be published next week in the full interview.

23rd April

Both pictures from Richard's latest tweet about the Young Minds charity cannot be seen in the twitter window on my home page, so for the benefit of those not on twitter, here is the thank you from Jade Zelkowicz at Young Minds.

19th April

1. Andrew Cook, special effects artist working on Hannibal in Toronto, has posted this head cast of Richard on instagram (who we will forgive for spelling his name incorrectly!)

2. Many of the cast of Pilgrimage are posting pictures and tweeting from their filming location in the west of Ireland. You can follow the screenwriter Jamie Hannigan @jamiedotdotdot, and three of the actors Tom Holland @TomHolland1996, Jon Bernthal @jonnybernthal and Stanley Weber @sweber_official and Richard @RCArmitage of course, when he arrives in Ireland (and assuming he chooses to tweet).

3. The Old Vic have posted a picture of handprints on instagram that Richard Armitage and Anna Madeley drew backstage, signed with their character's names John and Elizabeth Proctor.

4. Although Richard did not win Best Actor at the Olivier Awards, readers of The Guardian voted him the winner by a considerable margin. Maybe next year then? ;)

2nd April

You can read the full transcript of today's Twitter Q&A with Richard via the @OlivierAwards account here on Storify.

30th March

The hosts of the Olivier Awards Twitter account have announced that Richard will take part in a twitter Q&A on Thursday from 2pm (GMT+1 as we are now in British Summer Time). You can submit questions now by including the hashtag #AskArmitage in your tweets.

28th March

Richard will not be able to attend this Sunday's Jameson Empire Awards unfortunately, presumably due to filming on Hannibal. He tweeted this information yesterday, as you will see from his twitter feed on the home page of this site.

24th March

Empire magazine are one of a number of media outlets who have announced Richard's participation in the forthcoming film Pilgrimage.

"Brendan Muldowney is set to start directing the film next month, working from a script by Jamie Hannigan. The basic story...finds a group of 13th century monks who must escort a monastery’s holiest relic to Rome and find their faith severely tested en route."

Richard first mentioned this project via a twitter Q&A (question 3) from the Warner Bros France twitter account on 4 December 2014. Filming starts in Ireland in April and then moves to Belgium. More information below in the news 5th December (#3).

22nd March

1. Richard Armitage in Conversation, a 40 minute interview that took place on Tuesday 2nd September 2014, can now be purchased from Digital Theatre in its entirety to rent or download: click here for details. This is a wonderful interview that I was lucky enough to attend, and I met some lovely Richard Armitage fans beforehand and in the pub later - hello to you all! To rent or download The Crucible, visit this page. Further details were posted in the previous news item (17th March).

2. A donation of £570.32 plus gift aid has been made today to the Anthony Nolan Trust, one of six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. Thank you so much for using the Amazon links on the home page of this site. It is not just RA DVDs and audiobooks that will earn referral fees for charity, but ANY ITEM that Amazon sells, so please click on the Amazon logos on the home page for your shopping, or use the RAnet Amazon Stores for RA specific items.

17th March

1. You can download The Crucible from anywhere in the world today from 2pm GMT (9am EST, 6pm PT) via the Digital Theatre website. Click here for further details. It is available to rent for a limited period or to download permanently to your desktop in high definition or standard definition. Digital Theatre have said there is no end date to rent or download The Crucible, whichwill be available in their catalogue indefinitely. It is a great day for all those who were unable to see this remarkable production, enjoy!

2. Rumours are stirring about Richard's involvement in an adaptation of Edith Wharton's Summer, which will star Hailee Steinfeld. Watch this space.

9th March

Many congratulations to Richard for his Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor! Click here for the full list of nominations. The Crucible was also nominated for Best Revival. The awards ceremony will take place on 12 April at the Royal Opera House.

8th March

1. Today is the last day to download Classic Love Poems for free from Audible.com, Audible.co.uk or Audible.de. Don't miss out! Scroll down to the news on 14 February to see video clips of Richard at the Audible studios.

2. The Olivier Award nominations can be watched live on the OlivierAwards website at 12pm (8am ET) tomorrow. Surely Richard will get a nomination for John Proctor?

3. Keep voting for Richard as Best Actor at the Jameson Empire Awards 2015. The awards will take place on Sunday 29 March.

7th March

The third season of Hannibal has a broadcast date (announced yesterday) - 4 June! Richard will play Francis Dolarhyde in 6 episodes.

6th March

Digital Theatre made the much anticipated announcement today that The Crucible will be available for download worldwide on Tuesday 17 March from 2pm GMT, 9am (EST), 6pm (PT). This is a link to the email announcement showing the exact times that the download will be available.

Richard tweeted a link to an interview with TheaterMania, about the digital release and filming the production, shortly after today's announcement.

"There was such an urge for people to see it, [who] couldn't see it. I was very pleased that it would have an afterlife. One of the conditions I had in allowing it to be filmed was that Yaël be part of the edit, because what she was seeing, and what she wanted the audience to be seeing, was very specific."

18th February

1. Richard joined the Chinese social media site Weibo on 29 January and here is his account page, where he currently has over 140,000 followers. Yesterday he posted two messages (here and here) to celebrate Chinese New Year and he included two images created using the bitmoji cartoon app.

2. Nominations for the 2015 Audie Awards held by the Audio Publishers Association have been announced, and Hamlet Prince of Denmark: A Novel has been nominated for two awards! The audiobook has been nominated in the 'Original Work' category and Richard has been nominated for his narration in the 'Solo Narration-Male' category. The winners will be announced on 28 May 2015 at a Gala in the New York Academy of Medicine, New York. Many congratulations to Richard and to the co-authors A.J. Hartley and David Hewson. See the Press Release for further information.

15th February

The 15th annual What's On Stage awards will take place today at 7pm at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. Richard is nominated in the Best Actor in a Play category. The Crucible is nominated in the Best Play Revival category. You can follow the event via their live blog or the social media links that are referenced in the article on that page including this link to YouTube.

Update: No luck for Richard or The Crucible I'm afraid. David Tennant won Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Richard II. Coriolanus won Best Play Revival.

14th February

1. Several video clips were released by Audible following the release of the free to download 'Classic Love Poems'. Here Richard gives examples of the songs he sings during his vocal warm ups (funny!) and here he describes his moody voice mail greeting!

Richard has recorded 15 love poems for Audible called 'Classic Love Poems', which can be downloaded for free until 9th March from Audible.com, Audible.co.uk or Audible.de. It is also available for a small price at iTunes. There is an interview with Richard about the recording of these poems on YouTube.

7th February

1. The Crucible will be shown in Italian cinemas on 5th March! Visit www.thecrucibleonscreen.com for more information and cinema dates in other countries - more have been added.

2. Richard is up for Best Actor in the SFX magazine 2015 awards and The Hobbit and Peter Jackson also feature. Vote here.

3. Cinema showings in New Zealand and Australia of The Crucible have prompted some new interviews in The Dominion Post and in The Brisbane Times. Both interviews provide new information about the productions and Richard's thoughts on the experience.

5. A donation of £333.73 plus gift aid has been made today to the Young Minds Trust, one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. Thank you so much for using the links to Amazon UK, US and DE on the home page of this site.

CinemaLive have asked me to pass on the following exciting information about the release of The Crucible in cinemas:

The Old Vic’s The Crucible – In Cinemas

Don’t forget that cinema screenings for The Old Vic’s Crucible starring Richard Armitage are continuing in February and March in selected territories: the UK, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Screenings in South Africa, Cyprus and Macau have also just been announced.

1. Here are some interviews from the Beijing press junket that are well worth watching: ent.qq.com and ent.163.com (this one also has a photograph from the press conference that took place on 19th January).

However, the best interview I've seen so far is this one kindly uploaded to youtube by Richard Armitage CN Fansub. The last question Richard was asked was "You have many selfies on your twitter, has it become a habit to take a selfie every day?" (thanks to Norloth).

2. Katie Jackson was also on the Chinese press tour and she tweeted this picture from the Great Wall of China, which was taken at the same time as this selfie by Richard and Peter.

3. Pictures from the Beijing Hobbit premiere are on this Chinese site. Scroll down and click on the numbers to move through the pictures.

4. Here is a video of Richard singing Misty Mountains with the crowd at the Beijing Hobbit premiere. The singing can be heard again in this excellent video of Richard Taylor, Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Richard Armitage arriving at the Hobbit premiere and speaking before the show. Thanks to sahRAobsessed for the link.

2. The Richard Armitage Chinese fansite has shared some photos they took at Beijing airport today and they have generously offered to share more photos from the events in China over the next few days. I have uploaded the airport photos to the gallery. Thank you!

17th January

1. Hannibal writer and producer Bryan Fuller has tweeted a picture of Richard holding a fake cover of Time magazine, which makes a reference to the character he will play in the show.

2. New poll on the left-hand side asking about Richard's new role in Hannibal. Previous poll results are here.

3. On 4th January (see below) I passed on the news that Netflix had dropped some BBC shows from its service. According to Variety, North and South and Robin Hood are safe but MI-5 aka Spooks is not on the list.

13th January

1. TV Line has reported that Richard has been cast in the third season of NBC's Hannibal. He will be playing Francis Dolarhyde, a serial killer that appeared in Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, one of the books on which Hannibal is based, and he will appear in 6 episodes. This news also reported in TheWrap. Also reported in Variety.

2. Please accept my apologies for those who have been waiting, but despite my earlier intention it is no longer possible for me to create a 2015 calendar. I'm afraid my workload is currently overwhelming and does not allow me the luxury of time to create the calendar. Many apologies.

3. If you are in the UK, please check your local cinema as The Crucible will be showing in selected cinemas this week and in February. See TheCrucibleOnScreen.com for more details. Screenings have also been announced in Belgium, France, Poland, Latvia and Hong Kong and more screenings added in Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

2. Thanks to Dee for passing on the information that some BBC TV shows will expire on Netflix US on 1st Feb, including North and South, Vicar of Dibley, MI-5 (Spooks) and Robin Hood. Watch them now before they disappear - or buy the DVDs via Amazon links on my home page! Note: in case you were not aware these shows are often edited to include adverts so if you don't own the DVDs you may not have seen the complete versions.

1st January

Happy New Year to you all and thank you for visiting this website now in its seventh year!

1. Richard tweeted a selfie to wish us all a Happy New Year last night. Click here to read his tweet.

1. Here is the trailer for Hannibal episode 9 '...And the Woman Clothed with the Sun'. If this doesn't work in your location, try this.

2. The Post Mortem clip for episode 9 is now on youtube. Rutina Wesley eloquently explains her take on the character of Reba McClane, and Reba's relationship with Francis Dolarhyde.

3. This review from flickeringmyth is worth a mention for its outstanding praise of Richard's performance. There are many reviews of episode 8 online and I don't recall reading any negative reviews at all, in fact many comment that this episode is a highlight of the series so far. Richard's performance as Francis Dolarhyde has been universally praised.

"I really had my doubts whether he was the man to play Francis Dolarhyde in this production. The first five minutes of The Great Red Dragon convinced me not only to put aside my doubts but has completely reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the series. Armitage is every bit that impressive in the role."

4. The Philippine Star's interview with Richard is here. Richard also mentions Pilgrimage and Brain on Fire, which is he filming at the moment in Vancouver:

“At the moment, I’m playing a very loving and kind person who is fighting very hard to save his daughter’s life, somebody who is a real family man and in a way, it’s a very nice antidote to Francis Dolarhyde who was a very destructive character.”

5. A brand new video interview with Richard courtesy of the Hannibal production team has been posted on youtube.

2. Here is the Straits Times telephone interview with Richard about Hannibal. After several interviews in the past few days there isn't really anything new in this one, but they have published a photograph taken by Sarah Dunn for last year's Hobbit promotion that hasn't been seen before in such high resolution. Click the arrow on the picture of Francis Dolarhyde to see Sarah's photo of Richard. Sarah published a larger version of the photograph on her Facebook page last November.

1. Despite being interviewed several times as you will see from yesterday's and today's news, Richard still manages to give slightly different answers to similar questions so all of the interviews are worth a look. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Richard explains some of the different types of research he followed to find the character of Francis Dolarhyde.

"When we were working on that I would listen to Mich Levi, who wrote the score to Under the Skin. It was ironically useful and very topical at the time because he’d just been nominated for an Oscar. I was also listening to a young girl who was in speech therapy for a cleft palate. I studied a lot of online of speech therapy for speech disabilities."

He also comments on the famous tiger scene filmed with Rutina Wesley, saying that Francis...

"...didn't self-consciously know he was doing a heroic thing, he just understood that it would mean something to her and he wanted to rock her world. But it’s actually not for personal gain, it’s to move her."

2. Michael Calia on behalf of The Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy section has written one of the best interviews I believe. There is lots of interesting detail in this interview, including whether he would play such a character again and also how he cultivated the character's speech impediment:

"I also worked with this little piece of plastic on the roof of my mouth, which enabled me to speak quickly but at the same time not avoid the little tics that happen in cases of a cleft palate, so that was there all the way through."

3. The Wrap have provided an extended clip from the start of episode 8 of Hannibal. I can't play this video in the UK so it could be blocked in your country. As soon as the footage appears elsewhere online I will update this news item.

4. Inquisitr have summarised the Hollywood Reporter's article (#1 above), but I'm mentioning it here for their acknowledgement of the Armitage Army: "they all recognize his versatility and ability to take on very intricate characters." Yes we do.

5. SpinOffOnline asks similar questions and there are similar answers that we have read in other interviews. However the last answer is the most interesting as Richard talks about the amount of input he had into the portrayal of the character:

"Every idea that I’ve had, and every thought I’ve had about the character, has been embraced by the writers, the costume designers, the set designers, the stunt coordinator and the directors. When you are given that opportunity, your brain starts to work in much more detail."

6. Ma Vie En L'Air have interviewed Richard about Hannibal, and have published the conversation as it took place without any editing. This is a fantastic interview and it is only the first of three parts. Part two will be posted on Sunday (tomorrow) at 10am GMT or 6am US EDT. Part three will be posted within the following 24 hours.

Richard is asked about Guy of Gisborne in comparison with Francis Dolarhyde, about the nature vs nurture argument, whether he was physically comfortable with the amount of nudity and whether he was able to shake off the character after each shooting day. Well worth a read!

1. Bryan Fuller shows us around Francis Dolarhyde's attic and Hannibal Lecter's cell in this video from TV Guide. Thanks to @sahraobsessed on twitter.

2. An interview with Richard in the Jakarta Globe reveals that Richard actively sought character driven independent films after The Hobbit and he describes his gruesome and revealing first day on set.

3. Bryan Fuller's interview on Buzzfeed has some spoilers but lots of fascinating information about season 3 and later in the article, about Richard's part in the latter half of the season. The last answer is really interesting about the way Richard contorted his body: "we wanted it to feel like An American Werewolf in London".

4. In this interview with Zap2it, Richard explains again that he did not watch previous incarnations of the character by other actors, but also says that he deliberately didn't want to see another Reba McClane either: "because I, as the character, was about to meet my Reba McClane. I didn’t want to be informed by other manifestations of that, so I left it alone.”

5. This two minute short clip shows Richard and Guillermo Navarro on Hannibal's Post Mortem show, a behind the scenes look at every episode. I'm not sure if more of this interview will be posted on NBC's Hannibal site or elsewhere so if anyone can give me more information on this please email me (Ali) at
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.

7. In another interview out today, Richard talks to The Wrap about Hannibal, binge watching the series so far, playing a physically and emotionally isolated character and how Richard found a way to play the physicality of the character.

8. I won't post links to all the reviews of Hannibal episode 8, as there will be many, but this one from Business Insider Australia has to get a mention because it is one of the first reviews, it is glowing and there is this comment:

"a big part of what makes this new arc so immediately compelling is the addition of actor Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde. Armitage is a force of nature, terribly frightening in the role without ever saying a word (and completely unrecognizable from his most famous role, Thorin Oakenshield from “The Hobbit” films)."

10. I am debating whether to set up another birthday page for Richard this year, something I have done every year since 2009. Last year's is here. Now that he is on twitter, I expect lots of people will tweet Richard directly on his birthday, and although I appreciate not everyone has a twitter account I am wondering whether a birthday page on this site is still appropriate and worthwhile. Social media has changed the way that people interact online and I'm aware that this site is an archive of information rather than a way for fans to communicate, so perhaps a birthday page is no longer relevant. I would be grateful if you would vote in the poll on the left and also I would welcome comments on the home page to let me know your opinion. (Scroll down to create a new comment). Thank you very much!

TV Insider have published an interview with Richard about playing Francis Dolarhyde, and there's a very interesting answer about what would have been a dealbreaker in terms of playing a character that commits such horrific crimes. The picture they have posted appears with others from episode 8 and 9 in the Hannibal gallery on this site.

1. TV & Satellite week have an interview with Richard in their 25-31 July issue out this week to promote Richard's first appearance in Hannibal. Episode 8 of series 3 will be shown on Weds 29 July 10pm on Sky Living HD. Click the image below to enlarge. Thanks to @guille171170 and @RArmitageBrazil for letting me know so I could go out and buy it!

2. Richard also appears in two more UK magazines today, What's On TV magazine and TV Guide magazine. Many thanks to Jen for the scans. Click to enlarge.

3. Strike Back Origins, which was the first series of Strike Back first shown in 2010 in the UK and starring Richard, is currently showing on demand on Cinemax in the US. Thanks to @TheRAFanPage on twitter.

1. A donation of £270.82 plus gift aid has been made today to Barnardo's one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Thank you so much for continuing to use the Amazon links on my home page to make your purchases. Referral fees are earned for free for every item you buy. Details here.

2. A new promo video of Hannibal 'The Great Red Dragon' episode has been posted on Vimeo. Also here is the preview for next week's episode featuring Richard, which was shown at the end of episode 7 on Saturday night in the US. Both videos have slightly different footage from the original preview aired at Comic-Con (see news 12 July below). Spoilers!

6. William Bibbiani's interview with Richard for CraveOnline took place after the Hannibal panel in San Diego, next to the restaurant for the book signing that took place the next day. This is an excellent interview giving plenty of insight into how Richard humanised Francis Dolarhyde.

1. Richard's latest tweet confirms that he has just arrived in Vancouver, Canada to begin working on the film Brain on Fire, which is being produced by Charlize Theron and stars Chloë Grace Moretz. No official press announcement has appeared yet stating his involvement, however speculation began a few days ago when Richard started following Charlize and Chloë on twitter. Here is an article by Variety about the shoot.

The film is based on the bestselling memoir by Susannah Cahalan, “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness" and it will be released in 2016. The film is directed by Gerard Barrett. Here is a local Vancouver press site with more information.

1. A round up of the news, interviews and video clips from Richard's appearance yesterday at San Diego Comic-Con, visit the SDCC 2015 page, which I will be updating as more news arrives. I am gathering all the pictures shared on social media - here is the collection so far.

1. Candida Brady, the director of Urban and the Shed Crew has posted this fantastic promotional image showing Richard as Chop, Fraser Kelly as Urban and Anna Friel as Greta. She also posted this picture of Richard and writer of the original novel, Bernard Hare, on the set of the film. Candida is hoping to release an official trailer next week. The film is being submitted to film festivals and there could be more news about this at the end of the month.

2. Franchise Herald have posted a synopsis of Richard's first episode in Hannibal (s3e8) called 'The Great Red Dragon'. This episode will be shown in the US on 25 July on NBC and in the UK on 29 July on Sky Living.

3. Here is an extended interview with Richard about playing Francis Dolarhyde. Unfortunately it is not easy to hear Richard under the Russian translation but I was able to make out most of what he was saying so I hope you are able to as well. Thanks to @faboamanto on twitter.

2. Here is Collider's interview with Richard after his win at the Saturn Awards on Friday night. This interview with Bryan Fuller prior to the awards is also worth a watch for his comments about working with Richard (and also for details of American Gods if you're fan of the book, like me!).

1. The rumour mentioned in the news 20th June (#3) below is now confirmed: Richard will attend San Diego ComicCon and appear on the Hannibal panel at 5pm on Saturday 11 July in Ballroom 20. As Deadline reports, a sneak peek of the “Red Dragon” storyline will be followed by a Q&A with cast members Hugh Dancy and Richard Armitage, along with executive producers Bryan Fuller and Martha De Laurentiis. Although Hannibal has been cancelled by NBC, the third season will be shown in full as planned. It is currently being shown on NBC in the US and on Sky Living on Wednesday evenings in the UK. Richard will appear in episodes 8-13.

2. Thanks to @RA_AiRi3232 on twitter for the information that North and South has been released in Japan today with Japanese dubbing.

1. Den of Geek published a new interview with Richard on 16th June (sorry - I tweeted this but haven't had time to update the site until today). High praise from the author of the article:

"From the moment Thorin first appeared at Bilbo’s door Armitage managed to convey the power, charisma and leadership that set him apart from the rest of the pack, and it was that performance that helped to ground most of The Hobbit’s more over the top moments and keep audiences on side with the task at hand."

Richard is asked about filming the last few scenes of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, so there are lots of spoilers and there is a comment at the end about his role in Captain America. Here Richard talks about finding his feet as the leader of the company of dwarves:

"you can’t really enforce your leadership, it has to be given to you. It’s one of those things I believe that you can’t pull status and it would have weakened his character had he been a dictator, he had to be a kind of humble character that was given his authority by all of the dwarves and that takes time, that takes an actor building up trust with his colleagues and so I just had to take that step by step and earn the respect of my fellow actors, which is tricky, it’s difficult."

2. Today The Connacht Tribune has reported on the end of filming of Pilgrimage (which actually wrapped on 28 May according to the screenwriter) but the article mentions that the film will be promoted at the Toronto Film Festival in September and the American Film Market, an industry event in November.

3. There are strong rumours that the first footage of the Red Dragon from Hannibal episode 8 will be shown at this year's San Diego ComicCon and Richard may well attend, according to this unofficial blog. There is no official confirmation yet and no information on which day the Hannibal panel will take place.

4. In case you haven't read it yet (and I thought I'd already posted this, but again I must apologise), Richard has written a personal account on the Cybersmile Foundation's website, called The Human Condition and Social Media, published 11th June.

The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively revealed the first images from Pilgrimage including a great shot of Richard in medieval armour. Richard plays Raymond De Merville - see news 22nd May below for the picture tweeted by Richard.

Update: sorry the trailer has been removed by the filmmakers - not sure why but I hope for some news soon.

1. The teaser trailer for Urban and the Shed Crew has been released on YouTube and it looks fantastic! Richard as we've never seen him before and many recognisable scenes from the book. As soon as there is any information about the film's release I will post it here.

"Richard has gone above and beyond my expectations...I’ve been cutting scenes with him and we were watching a scene, and the editor and myself were both surreptitiously wiping tears out of the corners of our eyes because he is heartbreaking and soul-stirring and mad. He’s this poor, tortured, mad man. Now, after working with Richard, I can’t imagine anybody else doing it. He is so pitch perfect that it’s a coup."

Confirmation of the name and subject matter of the Irish film project that Richard has mentioned previously have appeared on David Higham (agents) website. We don't yet know if this project has the green light, but Richard is named as the star of the film called Bridget Cleary adapted by Anne-Marie Casey from the book by Angela Bourke. The film will be produced by Wildfire Films and directed by Jim O'Hanlon. For more information about the true story, here is a description on an Irish folk group's website.

Richard first mentioned this project on 7th December at the CCXP event in São Paulo, Brazil. The full interview is on YouTube, but here is the direct quote:

"I'm producing something of my own, which is based on a true story. It's going to be set and filmed in Ireland in the late 1800s, it's a true story"

1. Yesterday Richard announced on twitter via the Cybersmile Foundation that he has become an ambassador for their organisation. Here is the original announcement. Today, they published an interview with Richard who explained his reasons for supporting the case against digital abuse.

This site is not a blog so I won't discuss my experiences or opinions on this matter and I wish I didn't have anything to relate. I am going to take this opportunity, however, to thank those who have 'got my back'. You know who you are and without you this site would not still be here. Can we get back to the 'fun' now? :)

2. Film Industry Network have also published an article about this announcement. The article has some quotes from Richard that are also on the Cybersmile Foundation's website, but there is plenty of new information, including details of Richard's next projects. It seems the Edith Wharton rumour is more than just a rumour and the Irish period drama (presumably this is the one he is producing) is still in the works.

3. Hannibal season 3 starts in the US and several other countries tonight - but you knew that already, yes? It starts in France on 9th June (my birthday!) and in the UK on 10th June. Richard will appear in episodes 8-13.

1. Bryan Fuller has been chatting about Hannibal again, this time to Den of Geek. There are spoilers in the article for those who are catching up with the previous two seasons, but he talks extensively about Richard's role as Francis Dolarhyde, including this:

"To be able to allow the audience to meet that man first and see the tragedy of his situation and then be exposed to the horrors of what he is capable of, and then be able to return again to the story of a tortured man whose mind is eating him from the inside out, takes a very particular actor to navigate and garner sympathy from the audience."

2. Urban and the Shed Crew is currently being submitted to film festivals, so we wish all involved the very best of luck for this highly anticipated film. The poster and teaser trailer are currently being worked on. As soon as there is any more news, I will post it here and on twitter and facebook.

3. Sorry to say Hamlet Prince of Denmark: A Novel and Richard's narration were unsuccessful at last night's Audie Awards 2015. It is a fantastic audiobook and well worth owning: Amazon UK RANet store or Amazon US RANet store.

1. Fangoria have published a long and interesting interview with Richard about playing Francis Dolarhyde. As we have come to expect Richard's analysis of this character is extensive, but it seems this role afforded him the luxury to experiment over six episodes with a detailed physical and mental portrayal of Dolarhyde, and he was given a great deal of freedom to fully explore the character's insanity and not necessarily in order to try to understand him. Francis Dolarhyde appears in the latter half of the third season, which airs on 4th June in the US on NBC and 10th June in the UK on Sky Living.

"I had 10 days to read the novel and completely change my body shape to become like the bodybuilder that Thomas Harris describes. Yeah, I did quite a bit of training, but 10 days is just not enough time. In the book, he’s described as a bodybuilder, so I took his military history, I took my own physique, and I took the psychology of someone that wasn’t happy with themselves and was trying to become better. We put him somewhere in the middle of that.

"There’s a lot of stuff going on here with Francis. It was interesting because I didn’t speak for the first episode. You don’t hear him really utter any words. His speech is slowly evolved throughout the 6 episodes, until the end when he’s eulogizing in very succinct, poetic, gothic ways. It’s been interesting."

2. Music from Urban and the Shed Crew has been released via the artist Som Vinter, who announced Blenheim Films' decision to include some of his music in the film. You can listen to the hauntingly beautiful Tidal Waves via SoundCloud on SomVinter.com. Here is the instrumental track Flatland that will also appear in the film according to their announcement and also Man of the World.

3. The Audie Awards 2015 will be presented tonight at a Gala in the New York Academy of Medicine, New York and you can watch the event on a livestream here. Hamlet Prince of Denmark: A Novel has been nominated in the 'Original Work' category and Richard has been nominated for his narration in the 'Solo Narration-Male' category. Here is the Press Release for further information.

This interview with Bryan Fuller on Tattle-Crime.com is a MUST read. Bryan gives some fascinating details into how how Richard was cast and his approach to taking on the role in Hannibal.

Bryan says: "There were times that we were sitting in the editing room going over a scene and both the editor and I had to wipe a tear out of the corner of our eyes because you’re rooting for this man to find some peace because he is so tortured, and yes, he is a terrible killer of families but Richard imbues him with great power and also tremendous vulnerability and it’s incredibly appealing."

Richard posted an indistinct picture of himself in Pilgrimage costume on Weibo earlier today. He is currently on location in Belgium playing a Norman knight, Raymond De Merville, in the Brendan Muldowney film. Here is the original picture and a version I have edited - now we see you! Click to enlarge.

For the first time we can now see video and pictures of Richard playing Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal, released today via EOnline. The video content is not yet available in many countries outside the US, but you can watch some gifs on tumblr thanks to Jollytr.

Here is a video showing a preview of season 3 with a short clip of Richard talking. The picture I posted on 10th May (see below) is from this interview.

Bidding has ended on the doodle Richard drew for the Neurofibromatosis Network, raising an incredible $4350.00! Click here to see the final listing (scroll down). Many congratulations to the winning bidder. Richard tweeted on 8 May to confirm that he will generously match the final bid.

Empire magazine have published a four part article about the popular BBC spy drama Spooks, featuring the thoughts of the makers of the show and former cast members including Richard. With the release of the film Spooks: The Greater Good in cinemas in the UK, Empire has compiled quotes to commemorate memorable moments from the ten series.

Richard is quoted a few times in parts 2 and 3, most notably about the controversial Lucas North/John Bateman character twist. Thanks to Laura for the link.

1. The first behind the scenes photo of Richard Armitage being interviewed about Hannibal has appeared on one of my favourite photo sites farfarawaysite.com. We don't have any information yet on when this interview will be released. One of the other photos on that link seems to show the kimono worn by Richard's character Francis Dolarhyde aka The Tooth Fairy.

2. Bidding on the doodle Richard drew for Doodle 4 NF, an annual fundraiser for the Neurofibromatosis Network, is at $1465.00 at the time of writing. The bidding ends on 17th May and Richard tweeted yesterday that he will match the final bid!

“I think a lot of people who weren’t necessarily into the genre or Peter’s work probably felt it was too long; in which case I feel like maybe it’s not the right movie for you. The fans loved every single second of it and actually wanted more. When you look at what had to be lost, there was almost too much for three films. There wasn’t quite enough time to tell the whole story.”

4. Film Mayo have posted some photos from the set of Pilgrimage in their latest newsletter. No pictures of the cast.

5. Entertainment Weekly have published a great article about Spooks with some very complimentary comments about Richard and his character Lucas North. Thanks to Jenn.

Richard Armitage (Robin Hood, The Hobbit, Strike Back, Into the Storm) gets his own separate mention because he’s Richard Armitage, who makes everything awesome when he turns up. This is particularly true when he’s playing Adam’s successor, Lucas North, who was possibly Spooks‘ most complicated character and gave the show a shot in the arm when he was hired in series seven. If your show can go from Matthew Macfadyen to Rupert Penry-Jones to Richard Armitage, you are doing something very right.

1. A donation of £241.48 plus gift aid has been made today to The Salvation Army, one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. If you scroll to the bottom of the Donations page you will note that the total you have raised via this site is now over £7,000! Thank you so much.

I have decided, with consultation with some twitter friends, that all the money raised by you this month will go towards UNICEF's appeal for Nepal. The payment made above was earned by referral fees accrued in January and February of this year, so it will be a few months before I get the May 2015 payment, but all that commission will go to UNICEF. If you are happy to support this one-off decision, then please use the Amazon links on my site this month to raise money for UNICEF. After this month all fees will be paid to one of Richard's nominated charities as usual.

2. There is a new poll on the site asking which project you are most looking forward to. Scroll down on the left-hand side to vote. Previous results here.

There was a new message on Weibo this morning from Richard, along with two stunning photos of the Irish landscape. Click here to view (you don't have to be a member of Weibo to see the posts). He also posted a tribute to Andrew Lesnie today on Weibo.

Richard has drawn a doodle for Doodle 4 NF, which is an annual fundraiser for the Neurofibromatosis Network. Here is his doodle (or click the image below). Bidding starts on 7th May and ends on 17th May and will start here on eBay when it goes live on the 7th. Thank you to @Veloce on twitter for the info. The original painting that his doodle is based on is The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea by William Blake. Richard drew another doodle for auction back in 2007 for National Doodle Day, a charity that raises money for the UK charity Epilepsy Action. You can see that doodle in my gallery.

1. Richard has narrated the third series of Fraud Squad which will be broadcast in the UK tomorrow night at 9pm on ITV. Information on previous series, including clips of Richard's narration, can be found on the Fraud Squad page.

2. I'm sorry to announce that Big Finish no longer hold the licence for selling the BBC Robin Hood audiobooks The Witchfindersand The Siege narrated by Richard. I have received email confirmation about this. The Amazon links on my DVDs page still work but you'll see that the prices are extortionate as it is no longer available, so it seems that the only option could be eBay or perhaps your local library.

"I play a French Norman who has a personal agenda to corrupt this little journey. It's interesting, and most of my character's dialogue is in French, so I've been having to buff up my French."

I understand that Digital Spy's website is not accessible in all countries, so click the image below to read a jpg of the article, then click again to zoom in. I've added a jpg of the DS interview in yesterday's news too.

On Hannibal: "one of the great challenges I had was that it's very difficult to play someone you find so despicable, but if I can get an audience to somehow relate to him and feel something for him, despite what he's done, then I feel like I'll have achieved something I've never done before.”

On returning to the stage: "I am hopefully going to go back on stage, probably directed by Yaël Farber again, sometime in 2016 or 2017. We're developing an idea together and it will be a much more expressionistic, physical approach to theatre, which is the sort of theatre I'm really interested in. I can't say what it will be but we have a play in mind, quite an ancient play."

Interview with Empire Magazine with questions and answers about The Hobbit only, but this is a fun interview:

"One of my favourite moments is when Thorin gives Bilbo the Mithril vest. It's one of those pieces of information in the film that's referenced in Lord Of The Rings, when you see Frodo with it, and I love that it plays across the other films."

2. Character names have now appeared on the PilgrimageIMDB page and Richard's character will be called Raymond De Merville.

3. Richard and other cast members from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings have commented on today's sad news that cinematographer Andrew Lesnie has died. You will see Richard's tweet in the twitter box on my home page or here. Here is Peter Jackson's touching tribute on Facebook.

Richard was interviewed today to promote The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies extended edition, according to this tweet by a Yahoo Movies journalist. The interview will be posted in a few days and I will link to it here in the news. He was also interviewed by Digital Spy who asked him questions about his role in Hannibal. In the interview Richard comments on his decision to take the role of a serial killer and how the 6 episodes allowed him to fully explore the character.

Digital Spy have posted 11 spoilers about Hannibal season 3 from showrunner Bryan Fuller, including lots of information about filming with Richard and his character Francis Dolarhyde in the show. The article says: 'Richard Armitage's Dolarhyde will be treated more like a third lead character than a supporting player' and we are told about a shocked reaction from the crew during a specific scene. More details from Bryan Fuller will be published next week in the full interview.

Both pictures from Richard's latest tweet about the Young Minds charity cannot be seen in the twitter window on my home page, so for the benefit of those not on twitter, here is the thank you from Jade Zelkowicz at Young Minds.

1. Andrew Cook, special effects artist working on Hannibal in Toronto, has posted this head cast of Richard on instagram (who we will forgive for spelling his name incorrectly!)

2. Many of the cast of Pilgrimage are posting pictures and tweeting from their filming location in the west of Ireland. You can follow the screenwriter Jamie Hannigan @jamiedotdotdot, and three of the actors Tom Holland @TomHolland1996, Jon Bernthal @jonnybernthal and Stanley Weber @sweber_official and Richard @RCArmitage of course, when he arrives in Ireland (and assuming he chooses to tweet).

3. The Old Vic have posted a picture of handprints on instagram that Richard Armitage and Anna Madeley drew backstage, signed with their character's names John and Elizabeth Proctor.

4. Although Richard did not win Best Actor at the Olivier Awards, readers of The Guardian voted him the winner by a considerable margin. Maybe next year then? ;)

The hosts of the Olivier Awards Twitter account have announced that Richard will take part in a twitter Q&A on Thursday from 2pm (GMT+1 as we are now in British Summer Time). You can submit questions now by including the hashtag #AskArmitage in your tweets.

Richard will not be able to attend this Sunday's Jameson Empire Awards unfortunately, presumably due to filming on Hannibal. He tweeted this information yesterday, as you will see from his twitter feed on the home page of this site.

Empire magazine are one of a number of media outlets who have announced Richard's participation in the forthcoming film Pilgrimage.

"Brendan Muldowney is set to start directing the film next month, working from a script by Jamie Hannigan. The basic story...finds a group of 13th century monks who must escort a monastery’s holiest relic to Rome and find their faith severely tested en route."

Richard first mentioned this project via a twitter Q&A (question 3) from the Warner Bros France twitter account on 4 December 2014. Filming starts in Ireland in April and then moves to Belgium. More information below in the news 5th December (#3).

1. Richard Armitage in Conversation, a 40 minute interview that took place on Tuesday 2nd September 2014, can now be purchased from Digital Theatre in its entirety to rent or download: click here for details. This is a wonderful interview that I was lucky enough to attend, and I met some lovely Richard Armitage fans beforehand and in the pub later - hello to you all! To rent or download The Crucible, visit this page. Further details were posted in the previous news item (17th March).

2. A donation of £570.32 plus gift aid has been made today to the Anthony Nolan Trust, one of six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. Thank you so much for using the Amazon links on the home page of this site. It is not just RA DVDs and audiobooks that will earn referral fees for charity, but ANY ITEM that Amazon sells, so please click on the Amazon logos on the home page for your shopping, or use the RAnet Amazon Stores for RA specific items.

1. You can download The Crucible from anywhere in the world today from 2pm GMT (9am EST, 6pm PT) via the Digital Theatre website. Click here for further details. It is available to rent for a limited period or to download permanently to your desktop in high definition or standard definition. Digital Theatre have said there is no end date to rent or download The Crucible, whichwill be available in their catalogue indefinitely. It is a great day for all those who were unable to see this remarkable production, enjoy!

2. Rumours are stirring about Richard's involvement in an adaptation of Edith Wharton's Summer, which will star Hailee Steinfeld. Watch this space.

Many congratulations to Richard for his Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor! Click here for the full list of nominations. The Crucible was also nominated for Best Revival. The awards ceremony will take place on 12 April at the Royal Opera House.

1. Today is the last day to download Classic Love Poems for free from Audible.com, Audible.co.uk or Audible.de. Don't miss out! Scroll down to the news on 14 February to see video clips of Richard at the Audible studios.

2. The Olivier Award nominations can be watched live on the OlivierAwards website at 12pm (8am ET) tomorrow. Surely Richard will get a nomination for John Proctor?

3. Keep voting for Richard as Best Actor at the Jameson Empire Awards 2015. The awards will take place on Sunday 29 March.

Digital Theatre made the much anticipated announcement today that The Crucible will be available for download worldwide on Tuesday 17 March from 2pm GMT, 9am (EST), 6pm (PT). This is a link to the email announcement showing the exact times that the download will be available.

Richard tweeted a link to an interview with TheaterMania, about the digital release and filming the production, shortly after today's announcement.

"There was such an urge for people to see it, [who] couldn't see it. I was very pleased that it would have an afterlife. One of the conditions I had in allowing it to be filmed was that Yaël be part of the edit, because what she was seeing, and what she wanted the audience to be seeing, was very specific."